World first mobile phone detection cameras
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New South Wales to Install the World’s First Mobile Phone Detection Cameras on Roads

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New South Wales installed the world’s first mobile-phone detection camera on its roads to detect car drivers using mobile phones while driving.

The cameras are built to operate 24×7 and withstand all weather conditions. The state plans to install 45 such cameras in the next three years.

New South Wales Minister of Transport, Andrew Constance, said, “The NSW Government is serious about reducing our state’s road toll and rolling out mobile phone detection cameras is another way we will do this.”

Drivers in NSW are allowed to make or receive voice calls only if they have a hand-held device. Video calling, using social media, and photography while driving are banned.

354 people perished in road accidents in New South Wales in 2018. The total this year has reached 329. The New South Wales government hopes that the new cameras will help to cut the number of deaths by road accidents by 30%.

The cameras will use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to scan images to detect instances of drivers using mobile phones. The images which AI deems as violations will be shown to an authorized person who will verify them.

After the cameras are installed, violators will only be issued warning letters for the first three months. Afterward, they will be fined A$344, and for areas around schools, the fine will go up to A$457. Violators will also get penalty points.

Opponents of the move argue that it will see a surge in the cases of driving violations and also that it holds the drivers guilty before trial as the drivers will have to prove that they were innocent conclusively.

Indeed, the NSW government forecasts that 135M violators will be caught by the new cameras every year for at least 4 to 5 years. Even if only 3% of violators move courts against their fines, it adds up to 72,900 new cases.

Koreas 145b wealth fund shifts towards fixed income assets
Company News

Korea’s Wealth Funds of $145 Billion Moves Towards Fixed Income Assets

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In 2018, a sudden shift in the market conditions, South Korea’s wealth funds of worth $145 billion got ignited, and now, there is planning to add it to the bonds or fixed assets and globally cut the shares to secure the returns in double-digit in 2019.

In 2005, Korea Investment Corp was founded. The chief executive officer, Choi Heenam, said in an interview that they aimed to invest money in the foreign-exchange reserves offshore of the country. But, their plan is becoming a bit defensive.

The sovereign wealth funds, also known as KIC globally, are moving towards the fixed income assets, which are considered to be an essential asset class in the five-year trend as reported in the Invesco report in July. According to the report, there are two late-cycle concerns, one is of volatility, and the second is losses from equities. The sovereign is forced towards the defensive position because of these concerns.

Due to higher risks, the entities across the world are tracking highs and optimism about the US-China trade war. Therefore, Korea Investment Corp is cautious.

In 2018, there was a loss of 3.7%, and in 2019, the wealth funds have generated 10.3% of return in eight months. Korea Investment Corp, with only overseas assets, had stocks and bonds of $121.6 billion at the end of August and $23.9 billion as alternative investments.

Municipal Employees Retirement System of Michigan Invests $319,000, acquired
Trading News

Michigan’s Municipal Employees Retirement System Buys Shares of $319,000 in First Defiance Financial

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Recently, Michigan’s Municipal Employees Retirement System invests a sum of $319,000 and buys shares of First Defiance Financial during the third quarter in a recent 13F filing with SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission).

According to the reports, the company purchases 11,000 saving shares and loans the company’s stocks worth $319,000. Now, Michigan’s Municipal Retirement System possessed 0.06% of the First Defiance Financial.

Many large investors have also invested in the shares of Defiance Finance like Nuveen Asset Management LLC owns $2,490,000 shares, Panagora Asset Management owns $1,907,000 shares, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owns $4,292,000 shares and many more.

First Defiance Financial Corp is a unitary thrift holding company that offers financial services to Northeast Indiana, Northeast Ohio, and Southeast Michigan. The firm provides various services, such as different types of accounts, deposits, real estate, and loans.

Recently, during the midday trading, the First Defiance Financial stock has been traded down $0.04, and now, it is hitting $30.40. The firm has a 1-year low of $ 22.78 and a 1-year high of $31.83. It has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00, and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. There is an average price of $30.19 for 50-day moving and $28.42 for 200-day moving. The market cap of the company is $598.78 million, with a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.63 and a beta of 0.98.

The last earnings results of First Defiance Financial were issued on October 21, 2019. The company showed a quarterly EPS of $0.68, which is defeating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.08. During the quarter, the revenue of the company was $40.73 million as compared to the expected revenue by the analysts, i.e., $40.15 million. The net margin of the company was 27.21%, with a return on equity of 12.03%. According to the selling analysts, First Defiance Financial will have 2.45 EPS in the current year.

Muthoot Finance to buy IDBI AMC
Stocks

Muthoot Finance to Buy IDBI AMC and IDBI MF to Enter Mutual Funds Sector

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Gold loan provider Muthoot Finance has agreed to buy 100% equity in IDBI Asset Management (AMC) and IDBI Mutual Fund (MF) Trustee Company for Rs 215 crore.

The company revealed this information in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. It further clarified that it planned to complete the transaction by February 2020, provided there were no regulatory issues.

On completion of the transaction, both IDBI Asset Management Ltd and IDBI Mutual Fund (MF) Trustee Company will become wholly-owned subsidiaries of Muthoot Finance.

The mutual fund space has 44 companies who between them have AUM over Rs 26 lakh crore.

With this deal, Muthoot Finance will mark its entry in the mutual fund’s space. Beginning with gold coins, Muthoot has steadily entered other financial services areas like insurance, money transfer, foreign exchange, etc. Thus, customers can find a range of financial products with Muthoot Finance.

Started in 2010, IDBI MF offers 22 schemes across the country covering all levels of investors, with Assets Under Maintenance (AUM) of approximately Rs 5,300 crore.

George Alexander Muthoot, Director of Muthoot Finance, said that IDBI MF was a trusted brand in the mutual fund space with a loyal customer base. He further said,

At Muthoot, we pride ourselves in venturing into mutual fund space through such an established player. The business objectives and customer-centric approach that we follow within Muthoot Group is well aligned with the business objectives of the mutual fund industry.

ICICI Securities were advisors on the deal for IDBI MF, and IDBI Asset Management and J Sagar Associates were their legal advisors. AZB and Partners were legal advisors for Muthoot Finance.

Yahoo Finance Integrates Cryptocurrency in Partnership with CoinMarketCap
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Yahoo Finance and CoinMarketCap Form Partnership to Share Cryptocurrency Data

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CoinMarketCap, which records the highest traffic among sites giving information about cryptocurrency prices, has formed a strategic partnership with Yahoo Finance, the financial news website of Verizon Media.

Yahoo Finance’s cryptocurrency data page will source cryptocurrency pricing, indices as well as educational content from CoinMarketCap.

CoinMarketCap indices Crypto 200 and Crypto 200 ex will be displayed on Yahoo Finance. These indices incorporate pricing from over 200 cryptocurrency exchanges worldwide and list cryptocurrencies that together have more than 90% global cryptocurrency market capitalization. Crypto 200 includes Bitcoin, while Crypto 200 ex excludes it. These indices give users an indication of global trends in the cryptocurrency market.

CoinMarketCap’s newsletter and blogs will be displayed on Yahoo Finance’s cryptocurrency screener landing page, which displays information about pricing, the transaction volume of different cryptocurrencies, as well as on individual cryptocurrency pages. CoinMarketCap will post more educational videos related to cryptocurrency and make them available on Yahoo Finance. Educational videos can be very helpful as users are more like to watch a 10-minute video on cryptocurrency than read a 700-word article on it.

The educational content on cryptocurrency can attract people from fields other than finance. Yahoo Finance will expose a greater audience to cryptocurrency.

Joanna Lambert, General Manager of Finance, Tech, Autos, and Membership, Verizon Media, said,

“By partnering with CoinMarketCap, we can provide timely and reliable crypto information to meet our audience demand.”

Carylyne Chan, Chief Strategy Officer at CoinMarketCap, expressed optimism that their partnership with a trusted financial and business news and data site like Yahoo Finance will increase the adoption of cryptocurrency among the masses.

CoinMarketCap recently introduced liquidity-based metrics for ranking market-pairs to weed out any exchange gaming the system. It is also planning to release a new pricing algorithm soon.

Wirecard and Bank Mandiri Cooperate on Digital Financial Solutions for Corporate Customers
Company News

Wirecard Collaborates With Bank Mandiri to Provide Digital Payment Solutions to Customers

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Bank Mandiri, one of the largest Indonesian banks, has launched a new Customs Management service in collaboration with Wirecard. The service is a payment integration with the Indonesian DJBC, the Directorate General for Customs and Excise. It is anticipated to help corporate users execute customs and excise transactions.

The service is accessible to the Banks’ 27,000 corporate customers enabling them to streamline Customs and Excise payments.

SVP Government and Institutions at Bank Mandiri, Dadang Ramadhan said that,

“In addition to providing the best possible financial services to our customers, we are committed to supporting Customs and Excise by meeting the financial needs of the Directorate General. 53% of customs and excise payments are already carried out through our MCM channel. Through our cooperation with Wirecard, we expect to further increase the overall use of MCM.” 

The new service around Custom management incorporated inside the Mandiri Cash Management solution is supported by Wirecard technology and provided to all the active corporate customers of Bank Mandiri. The solution lets the users carry out a number of different errands besides transactions like liquidity supervision, web foreign exchange, etc. It caters to the value chain of a full-fledged cash management service in a simple and customizable user interface.

This new setting can be rightly considered a result of DJBC integration with the bank on open APIs. It enables corporate users to look up for DJBC invoices, validate their billing stature and transact everything in a single cycle.

It will not only enable users to have access to real-time information about their accounts but also avoid redundant payments and expedite transaction time and enhance the efficiency of the transaction process.

Oliver Quadt, Managing Director Indonesia & VP Business Integration Asia at Wirecard, added,

“We are proud to support Bank Mandiri, one of the largest financial institutions in Indonesia, in their digital journey. We are delighted that Bank Mandiri has chosen us as their technology provider for corporate solutions, and are confident that the solutions we are providing together will continue exceeding the expectations of Bank Mandiri’s customers.“

With Bank Mandiri’s cross border expertise, Wirecard succeeded in developing an explicit solution keeping in mind the needs of Asian banks that are looking to expand their online banking operations to businesses and corporations. Wirecard already holds a reputation as a market leader in software solutions for corporate banking in Indonesia. The solution can mark a turning point for the financial situation of the bank as well as the nation as a whole.

Gold-backed Crypto Firm Told to Stop Operations After Pyramid Scheme Allegations
Company News

Gold-backed Crypto Firm Told to Stop Operations After Pyramid Scheme Allegations

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Karatbars, a German Cryptocurrency firm that sells “Cryptonized gold” tokens, has been ordered to stop operations by German government banking regulator BaFin, over allegations that it was running a pyramid scheme.

BaFin issued a cease-and-desist order to Karatrbars parent firm Karatbit Foundation, which is registered in Belize. BaFin also asked the firm to settle all outstanding claims.

Karatbars also had a cryptocurrency, KaratGold Coin (KBC), which was used to buy tokens. Seiz claimed to have sold KaratGold Coins worth $100M.

Like regular cryptocurrency firms Karatbars also had an affiliate program where it gave commission to affiliates for bringing more affiliates.

Unlike other cryptocurrency firms, Seiz claimed that the company’s assets included a mine in Madagascar, which held gold worth £772M as well as a “Cryptocurrency bank” in Miami. Seiz claimed that these assets backed up his tokens.

Seiz persuaded footballers like former German captain Lothar Matthäus, Patrick Kluivert, and Roberto Carlos to promote Karatbars. He also boasted of presenting Lamborghinis and other luxurious items to affiliates.

Things started to unravel in May this year when Namibia branded Karatbars, a pyramid scheme, and then Florida’s financial regulator rejected the company’s application for a banking license. South Africa’s financial regulator asked the public not to deal with Karatbars.

Seiz had claimed the gold mine he owned in Madagascar was named Fort Dauphin, but an online mining tool revealed that there was only one mine in that area, and it held only titanium and zircon reserves.

After this, Seiz went back on his earlier claim and admitted that the company only owned some shares in a mine in Madagascar.

It is pertinent to note that even Bitcoin faucet have revenue models in that they pay a fraction of what they earn from advertising back to the buyers. Thus, when a firm like Karatbars, which deals in a precious metal like gold, is found to lie about its very foundations, investors have every right to feel cheated.

Seiz has claimed that KBC was never sold to German customers and was only given as a bonus gift. He also claimed that the information on which the BaFinn order collected from a fake Karatbars website.

Jeff Bezos Bill Gates and Warren Buffet
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Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates and Warren Buffet Top Richest Person of World, Mark Zuckerberg Down by 3 Positions – Forbes List

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The founder of Amazon Inc., Jeff Bezos holds the top position as the world’s wealthiest person; he is ahead of Bill Gates and Warren Buffet in the Forbes List, data according to recent Forbes list of the extremely wealthiest person. Meanwhile, the Facebook co-founder has slipped by 3 positions, and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has climbed by two positions, the US President Donald Trump has jumped to 51st position in the Forbes ultra-ranking list.

Things seem to be significantly good at the top in the ranking. As per the Forbes list, that was published on Tuesday by Forbes mentions that Jeff Bezos who is 55 has remained at the top position and has increased his wealth by $19 million in a year, and as of now his wealth is around 131 billion dollars.

Jeff Bezos holds 16 percent of stake in Amazon. The left wing of the US Democratic Party is targeting him because of his wealth that has increased the money gap between Bezos and Gates.

Bill Gates is the founder of Microsoft and a philanthropist. He is 63 and has observed his wealth increasing to $96.5 billion which has climbed up from 90 billion in the previous year, Forbes stated.

Interestingly, the Forbes ultra-rich list has been dominated by Americans. Out of the top 20 billionaires, 14 billionaires are Americans and are from the US.

According to magazine prediction, Warren Buffet’s holding has decreased by 1.5 billion, and now the worth is 82.5 billion dollars. He is at third place in the Forbes list; 88 years old Buffest is believed to be an investment guru. He was shocked in February to see a huge downfall in the shares of Kraft Heinz, which is a US processed food producer, the firm in which he had invested and held money.

French Luxury good company LVMH CEO, Bernard Arnault has been at 4th position, however, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has nearly lost 9 billion dollars of his net worth and has moved down to 8th position. Earlier, he was at 5th position in the Forbes list.

Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim has overtaken Mark Zuckerberg, Zara and Inditex founder Amancio Ortega of Spain and Larry Ellison-the co-founder of Oracle. With that, Bloomberg moved to 9th position from 11th position as his company worth rose to 55.5 billion dollars, Forbes stated.

Other billionaires who are included in the top 20 billionaires list are non-Americans namely, Mukesh Ambani who is the Chairman of Reliance Industries. He is ranked at 13th place and the Head of Chinese internet company Tencent, Ma Huateng has made his presence in the top 20 Forbes list.

While, the US President Donald Trump has been ranked at 715th position and according to the Forbes estimation, Trump’s wealth is at 3.1 billion dollars which has been the same from the previous year. Trump has been ranked at 715 in Forbes list, last year he was ranked at 766th position.

Donald Trump is not the richest person of US who has been elected to the highest post; rather the credit goes to a Democrat, J.B. Pritzker who took over the post of governor of Illinois in January. J. B. Pritzker who is the owner of the Hyatt hotel has valued his worth to be around 3.2 billion dollars.

Bernard Arnault the Owner of LVMH Defeats Warren Buffet as the Third Wealthiest Person of the World
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Bernard Arnault the Owner of LVMH Defeats Warren Buffet as the Third Wealthiest Person of the World

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Luxury goods investor Bernard Arnault has overtaken the Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Warren Buffest to gain the title of third wealthiest person of the world in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index list.

Bernard Arnault is a Frenchman, who has added 14.5 billion dollars to his company so far during this year. And, now the worth of his fortune is 83.1 billion dollars, on Tuesday, he surpassed Warren Buffet by 100 million dollar so as to join the top richest list of the world and currently the third richest person ever since the launch of Bloomberg’s wealth ranking in 2012. He is the Chairman of Louis Vuitton Parent (LVMH) which is the only European company other than Amancio Ortega owned by Zara of Spain to be at the third position on the richest list.

Most of Arnault’s wealth is related to his fortune LVMH and Christian Dior. The shares of both the fortunes were increased by 20 percent during the current year and noticed record break sales amidst challenging slowdown in China.

Bernard Arnault’s 2018 profit matches to his opponent Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon who is the World’s wealthiest person. He has managed to add 15.2 billion dollars to his holding, and now the worth of the company is at 140.1 billion dollars on the index of Bloomberg. Mark Zuckerberg, the co-founder of Facebook Inc. had a good start in 2019; the company shares were jumping by 15.3 billion dollars.

Dubai Stocks or Saudi Which to Buy
Trading News

Dubai Stocks or Saudi, Which to Buy?

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Saudi Arabia is an important country in the oil market and a member of the OPEC. Known for its production of natural gas and petroleum, it also has an emerging stock market called the Tadawul. It is the main stock exchange among the Gulf countries since 2007. Being a relatively new exchange, it did not offer derivative products like options or futures. But now the stocks in Saudi Arabia are gaining the attention of investors and fund managers as they are soon going to be listed in the emerging-markets benchmark.

The Dubai market has had a terrible few years due to the real-estate slump which is the backbone of the country’s economy, but despite that investors believe that the Dubai market offers better gains than the Saudi market.

But should investors switch to Saudi or the Dubai market is the question that needs to be answered?  

Some of the views expressed by experts:

Change global investments portfolio manager, Thea Jamison was of the opinion that the market in Saudi Arabia is expensive and when compared to Dubai, the returns and the operating margin are ‘not attractive’. Thea, says that the Saudi stocks are rallying due to the MSCI inclusion and thus the investors are optimistic about the stocks, but many companies are cautious about making any investments. Moreover, with the Saudi government adding stimulus to help the economy, companies will be under pressure to profitability making Dubai stocks a better option at least for now.

RWC Partners said that when compared to Dubai shares, the Saudi shares have always been expensive with fewer earnings for the value as the stocks have reached its maximum price. The RWC considers Dubai as a place which is good for companies which are looking to expand and foray into the African and the Middle Eastern markets due to it being a business hub. The property stocks in Dubai is expected to do well and yield great results. James Johnstone, who is the head of the RWC partners said, “We think the UAE has reached the bottom of its real-estate cycle. We have been using the opportunity to reduce some of our Saudi holdings and reallocate it back into the property stocks that are very cheap and attractively priced.”

The Saudi market is likely to join the MSCI emerging index from May and with Dubai posting strong fourth-quarter things deciding on where to invest is not going to be easy.